The Suore Oblate del Santo Bambino Gesù (Oblate

Oblate

An oblate spheroid is a rotationally symmetric ellipsoid having a polar axis shorter than the diameter of the equatorial circle whose plane bisects it. Oblate spheroids stand in contrast to prolate spheroids....

 Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus

Child Jesus

The Child Jesus represents Jesus from his Nativity to age 12. At 13 he was considered to be adult, in accordance with the Jewish custom of his time, and that of most Christian cultures until recent centuries.The Child Jesus is frequently depicted in art, from around the third or fourth century...

) is a 'di diritto pontificio'

Di diritto pontificio

In Roman Catholicism, a Di diritto pontificio institution is a secular institute, religious institute or Society of Apostolic Life set up by the Holy See or approved by a formal decree from the See. Such an institution depends directly and exclusively on the Apostolic See for its internal regime...

 religious institute of women. Its members use the suffix O.B.G. after their names.

History

It was founded in Rome by Anna Moroni (1613-1675) with help from Cosimo Berlinsani (1619-1694) of the Chierici Regolari della Madre di Dio. In 1650 Moroni began to dedicate herself to the work of re-educating female victims of prostitution, shortly afterwards setting up a school to teach young girls the catechism

Catechism

A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...

and in 1667 receiving authorisation to open a boarding house for her students